


confrontations and shoulder rubs

by zeltra



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Other characters mentioned - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-29 20:28:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20088280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeltra/pseuds/zeltra
Summary: War is hard for all parties involved, but especially the main tactician. Claude just wants to help a bit.





	confrontations and shoulder rubs

**Author's Note:**

> so discord made me do it. No but really the s support for Claude and Byleth is so open and perfect and doesn't really seem like a first confession to me??? so I tried oh well here's a confession I guess

Her head was throbbing.

He was struggling to keep his head up.

And everyone else was yelling.

"We can't throw our troops out like that, Lorenz!" Hilda cried, her arms making pointed gestures at the accused and at the map on the table.

"She's right," Lysithea's voice piped before Lorenz could get a word in. "Enemy reinforcements would most likely come from this area," she gestured to a forested area full of supposedly abandoned forts, "so our ground troops went out there, they could be ambushed."

"Do you really think Edelgard would let her plans be so easy to predicted?" Lorenz challenged. "She has the entirety of the empire and almost half of Faerghus; surely she has more clever tacticians than that."

"If they needed reinforcements, do you really see anywhere else they could be coming from?" Leonie quipped.

"Who said anything about them having reinforcements?!" Lorenz's voice was starting to betray the cool demeanor he always tried to keep.

Byleth thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head.

Claude wanted nothing more than to cover his ears like a child.

There were about three more minutes of unchanging bickering between most of the people in the room. Granted, Ignatz, Raphael, and Marianne weren't speaking in anything over a whisper, and only to each other. Most likely about how the others in their group were being ridiculous and how badly they wanted to retire for the night.

"This is war, Hilda, sacrifices have to be made!"

"Like the sacrifices Mercedes and Felix made?!"

At that, Byleth pushed herself off the table, her legs bumping back her chair. She stood in silence.

The room stood in silence. And they all looked to her.

Their beloved teacher was never one to yell at them. She could glare and guilt-trip like no other, but she would never raise her voice at her students. That doesn't mean they didn't know when they had messed up.

She looked over the room once - making eye contact with every one of them. Hilda and Lorenz hurriedly avoided her gaze. Lysithea and Leonie tried their best to keep up their tough faces, but their eyes darted away periodically. Marianne almost looked like she wanted to cry.

Ignatz, Raphael, and Claude all sat staring, waiting for her to say something. Claude, in fact, hadn't moved at all, his head still resting on his fist.

Byleth took the silence as a chance to take some quiet breaths to calm her pounding headache before speaking.

"We don't march for another three days. I believe, for tonight, we can set this aside. We can continue tomorrow. Civilly."

Always a woman of few words. But a powerful few they were.

There were some slow nods from the group. Byleth waited until they were all looking at her again to speak. A curt "dismissed." Just like they had heard so many times in their classroom five long years ago.

Marianne was the first to get up and leave, followed soon by Ignatz. One by one, all of them left silently, while Byleth sat back down in her chair with a quiet sigh, resting her head in her hand.

She didn't notice that one of them had stayed behind. She also didn't notice that he had moved from across the table to right behind her.

Only at the slow hand being dragged up her arm did she know someone was there.

She tensed slightly, immediately looking behind her to see a variation on the crooked smile she had grown so used to. She turned back around, closing her eyes. "Claude…"

The slight pity in his eyes turned to admiration as he rested both his hands on her shoulders. "A bit worked up there, Teach?"

Byleth slowly shook her head. "How do we get anything done around here?"

"Well…" Claude pretended to think as he started gently squeezing at Byleth's shoulders. He didn't miss the sharp inhale and silent sigh she gave. "There's… definitely still some things that need to be ironed out. But we've come this far, haven't we?"

"Mm…" It was less of a reply to his statement than she had hoped, and Claude had to keep from laughing at her immediate response. He kept lightly prodding and massaging, making slow progress on the knots in her neck. "Still… more to be done, though," she mumbled.

"Of course," he mused, pressing his thumb right under her hairline and dragging it down. _That_ made her straighten up a bit. "But we'll get there, yeah?"

"... Yes," Byleth replied, her tone firmer than before. "We have to." Her moment of strength soon faded at Claude pushing into that _one knot_ at the base of her neck that made her head fall forward. She had to sigh to keep back any noise.

"I have no doubt we will," Claude said as he lifted his hands from her shoulders and reached for the chair next to her.

Byleth's head lifted at the absence. "Why did you stop?"

Claude pulled out the chair and straddled it backwards, still facing Byleth. He laughed lightly as he sat, that easy smile making it back to his lips. "Does it at least feel a bit better?"

"It'd feel even better if you kept going." Byleth rested her elbow on the armrest, her cheek falling to her first. "But yes, it felt nice."

Claude placed his arms on the chair back in front of him, setting his chin on them with a smirk. "I'm glad I could do something to help, then. I know you've been stressed."

"Yes…" She put both of her hands on their respective shoulder, pulling her elbows down toward her chest to try to work at the knots more.

Claude only watched as her eyes fluttered shut as she breathed.

Her eyes blinking open again, Byleth looked him over a bit. "I can't imagine the knots in your back, what with the shoulder cape and riding your wyvern."

"None of that is Josie's fault," he remarked, and Byleth didn't miss the proud look in his eyes that came whenever someone mentioned his pearl-white wyvern. "I just need a better saddle. And, yes, maybe I should wear the regalia less often, but I have an image to keep up here."

"I know you do," Byleth muttered, her sharp green eyes half-lidded from exhaustion. "Honestly, we all need a break." She looked back to him with a small smile playing at the corner of her lips. "Even Josephine."

Claude's eyes fell as he laughed, but it was interrupted by a small yawn. He tilted his head into his arms to hide the yawn. Only, afterwards, his head didn't come back up. Byleth smiled fondly, pushing her chair back again to stand.

Claude still didn't move.

It seemed too good to give up the chance.

Fingers playing at the tails of his curls at first, she began scratching lightly at his scalp, trying to not mess up his hair too much.

Unlike Byleth earlier, Claude didn't even try to suppress the moan that escaped his lips. Byleth's nails ran from his temples to the base of his neck, ruffling his hair as they went. He may have said her name, but it was muffled by his arms.

"Don't fall asleep in here, Claude," Byleth teased in a hushed voice. She took her hands out of his hair for a second to pull his neck back and raise his head up. She started sifting through from the front of his hairline back. "I'm sure even the dormitory beds are more comfortable than this."

Shorter this time, but Claude groaned once again. "Will you come with me so you can keep doing this?"

At that, Byleth shook his curls off her hands and rested them on his shoulders. Leaning over his left side to look at his face, she murmured, "Now, that hardly seems fair, seeing as though you stopped so soon for me."

Turning to face her, he had to try to keep a neutral face at her being so close. 

_So close…_

He stared into her eyes, forcing himself to not look at her lips. "I could be convinced to continue."

"Tempting." Byleth pushed herself up on Claude's shoulders, walking around to his side to rest on the table. "However, I think we both should be getting to bed soon." She picked up a corner of his cape with her left hand and began fiddling with it. "Now, get up."

"Fine, fine." He grunted - just for show - as he stood again to his full height. Claude rolled his shoulders a couple times and sifted a hand through his messy curls. He glanced back to Byleth, still straightening out his hair. "Think that could become a regular thing?"

"And possibly start a scandal for you?" Byleth quipped, crossing her arms.

"A scandal?" Claude gasped dramatically, a hand to his chest. "What kind of man do you take me for, Teach?"

"One who flirts with everyone?"

Claude rolled his eyes slightly, smirking again. "Is it really flirting? Or just teasing?"

"I don't know, Claude. What is it?"

Byleth's eyes seemed to stare through him, even if she was simply replying in step with him.

"Well…" Claude hesitated, carefully thinking about what to say. He only seemed to do that when talking to her. "I suppose it depends on who I'm talking to. If it's… say, Hilda, I'd be teasing."

"And if it's me?" she asked coolly.

_… Shit._

That second of hesitation was all she needed. She stood from the table to step in front of him.

"You know, you're rather easy to read, Claude." Byleth watched as his verdant eyes widened a bit at her statement. "Even when I was still teaching you, I had my suspicions."

His gaze lowered as he raised a hand to the back of his neck. He felt five years younger in the moment, being scolded by his favorite teacher. "Was I really that bad?"

Byleth studied his expression. "Remember asking me to dance at graduation? I could see how nervous you were, even though you tried to hide it," she said, tapping the pulse on his neck that, even now, was betraying him. She didn't miss the slight flush in his face at the contact.

"Okay," Claude sputtered a bit, trying to collect his thoughts. "So I was a little hot for teacher - a lot of the kids liked you. You were really close to our age, you were really strong and smart-"

"But the others weren't constantly 'teasing', as you put it," she interjected. Byleth grabbed his cape in her right hand and began fiddling with it again. "You're technically older than me now. What's changed, Claude?"

This woman… will be the death of me.

Claude let out a small sigh before taking her hand that was messing with his clothing. He held it gingerly, unsure, exactly like he had while they danced at graduation. Looking back to her, he only saw her eyes - decisively blank and waiting for him to act.

Slowly, he brought her hand to his lips. He didn't move at all. He just held her there, waiting for her to take her hand away. When she did pull it from his grasp, he felt his chest clench. He knew it was ridiculous, she was never going to talk to him again-

Then his shoulders were being pulled down as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Claude's hands instinctively went to grasp something to stabilize himself, but they landed on her waist.

Pressed against his traitorous pulse, Byleth whispered, "I never imagined it would take you so long."

He stared at nothing for a few eternal seconds. Glancing down to the head on his shoulder, he thought fleetingly that it must be a dream. But his arms moved without him telling them to, enveloping her completely. When did she get so small?

They remained there for a few minutes, Byleth almost lulled to sleep by the constant beating of his heart, and Claude running his thumb along her waist to make sure she was real.

"... Teach?"

"Use my name, Claude."

"... Byleth." The name felt strange on his tongue, but… it felt good, too. "When you were asleep for all that time… everyone thought you were dead. That you weren't coming back."

"I know, Claude," she cooed as she ran her fingers through the ends of his hair. "And I can't apologize enough… But I hope you all have forgiven me."

Hiding his face in her hair the slightest bit, Claude tried to remind himself to breathe normally. "I could never hate you. Hell, I probably should, after that, but…" he trailed off, content to continue rubbing small circles into her back with his thumb. It was only when he felt Byleth shift in his arms that he stopped.

She pulled back enough from his embrace to see his face. The eyes that were always so full of life and joy were now filled to the brim with worry and doubt.

She cupped his face lightly, watching as his eyes finally met hers again.

"Thank you, Claude," she whispered, the words like a prayer on her lips. "For everything."

"You made me who I am, Byleth," he replied, just as quietly. "I should be thanking you."

As her gaze softened, she drew her thumb across his cheek. His grip tightened slightly around her waist, but only she noticed.

"It always felt impossible," Claude stated. "My crush on you. Like you would always be too far away."

Byleth only smiled at this. She studied him once again: his stronger build, his broader chest, his longer hair, and the small beard he kept close to his chin. She felt his hands trembling slightly on her back. She tilted his head back up to her before leaning in closer to him.

"I don't seem too far away now. Do I?"


End file.
